Gimpy
06-03-2002, 09:55 AM
Below is a statement from the National Adjudant of the Disabled American Veterans that describes the sorry state of affairs our VA health care system is becoming. We ALL need to write---call---E-mail our elected officials and DEMAND this be corrected.
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From the National Adjutant
Worsening Crisis in VA Health Care
Arthur H. Wilson, National Adjutant
The President's signature barely had time to dry on the 2002 Department of Veterans Affairs appropriations bill when VA health care directors were ordered to start cutting costs because of a budget shortfall. All across the country, regional networks and local medical facilities were told they need to reduce staffing, consolidate procurement, and ramp up billing operations at a time when more veterans are turning to VA for health care.
Funding for veterans health care this year is $1.5 billion below the amount recommended by The Independent Budget. The $21.3 billion appropriation will not even pay for the mandated wage increase for VA employees, much less cover the rising cost of direct patient care.
Veterans hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics have been struggling for years to meet increasing demand while Congress and the Administration have refused to provide enough money to keep pace with the soaring health care costs.
Even though this year's VA health care funding is just over 5% more than in 2001, it lags far behind the government's own assessment of national health care costs. According to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, health care costs shot up nearly 7% in 2000 and are expected to rise even higher in the future.
The veterans health care system is already in crisis, and the situation is rapidly getting worse. Because of expected funding shortages, VA health care networks have been told they must come up with a 2% "efficiency" cut. That could mean the loss of thousands of full-time employees. This pressure on the system will especially hurt sick and service-connected disabled veterans and affect their access to timely health care.
We continually receive reports of VA facilities having long waiting lists for initial services once a veteran is enrolled in the system, as well as closed enrollment at some hospitals. But most disturbing are reports of severely disabled veterans having to wait for health care and specialized services.
It is outrageous that hospital directors, already struggling to meet demand, are now being forced to make further cuts. New mandates coupled with an inadequate budget will result in rationed health care and closed enrollment. Medical directors will have no choice but to close beds, consolidate services, and cut back on the number of full-time employees.
The Administration and Congress can no longer ignore the serious financial problems VA is facing and its disastrous impact on sick and disabled veterans. VA must have the resources it needs to maintain a viable health care system now and in the future.
VA medical care funding needs to be increased to $24.5 billion in 2003 to ensure a secure and stable future for those who have served our nation through military service.
If the Administration and Congress truly want to honor veterans with appropriate benefits and services for their service and sacrifice for our nation, VA health care should be an entitlement.
Just as last year's enactment of TRICARE for Life legislation provides an entitled benefit that military longevity retirees richly deserve, the men and women injured during combat and in military service to this nation, who will bear the burdens of those disabilities for a lifetime, deserve no less than those who made the military a career.
After all, why should sick and disabled veterans have to fight year after year for timely access to health care they have earned and rightfully deserve?
Making veterans health care an entitlement for the men and women who have served and sacrificed for America is a right they have earned.
****END****
*****START*****
From the National Adjutant
Worsening Crisis in VA Health Care
Arthur H. Wilson, National Adjutant
The President's signature barely had time to dry on the 2002 Department of Veterans Affairs appropriations bill when VA health care directors were ordered to start cutting costs because of a budget shortfall. All across the country, regional networks and local medical facilities were told they need to reduce staffing, consolidate procurement, and ramp up billing operations at a time when more veterans are turning to VA for health care.
Funding for veterans health care this year is $1.5 billion below the amount recommended by The Independent Budget. The $21.3 billion appropriation will not even pay for the mandated wage increase for VA employees, much less cover the rising cost of direct patient care.
Veterans hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics have been struggling for years to meet increasing demand while Congress and the Administration have refused to provide enough money to keep pace with the soaring health care costs.
Even though this year's VA health care funding is just over 5% more than in 2001, it lags far behind the government's own assessment of national health care costs. According to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, health care costs shot up nearly 7% in 2000 and are expected to rise even higher in the future.
The veterans health care system is already in crisis, and the situation is rapidly getting worse. Because of expected funding shortages, VA health care networks have been told they must come up with a 2% "efficiency" cut. That could mean the loss of thousands of full-time employees. This pressure on the system will especially hurt sick and service-connected disabled veterans and affect their access to timely health care.
We continually receive reports of VA facilities having long waiting lists for initial services once a veteran is enrolled in the system, as well as closed enrollment at some hospitals. But most disturbing are reports of severely disabled veterans having to wait for health care and specialized services.
It is outrageous that hospital directors, already struggling to meet demand, are now being forced to make further cuts. New mandates coupled with an inadequate budget will result in rationed health care and closed enrollment. Medical directors will have no choice but to close beds, consolidate services, and cut back on the number of full-time employees.
The Administration and Congress can no longer ignore the serious financial problems VA is facing and its disastrous impact on sick and disabled veterans. VA must have the resources it needs to maintain a viable health care system now and in the future.
VA medical care funding needs to be increased to $24.5 billion in 2003 to ensure a secure and stable future for those who have served our nation through military service.
If the Administration and Congress truly want to honor veterans with appropriate benefits and services for their service and sacrifice for our nation, VA health care should be an entitlement.
Just as last year's enactment of TRICARE for Life legislation provides an entitled benefit that military longevity retirees richly deserve, the men and women injured during combat and in military service to this nation, who will bear the burdens of those disabilities for a lifetime, deserve no less than those who made the military a career.
After all, why should sick and disabled veterans have to fight year after year for timely access to health care they have earned and rightfully deserve?
Making veterans health care an entitlement for the men and women who have served and sacrificed for America is a right they have earned.
****END****